OREANDA-NEWS. On July 09, 2007 the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, met with the Chairman of the State Customs Committee (SCC), Alexander Shpilevsky, to receive his report, reported the Presidential website www.president.gov.by.

The meeting focused on a wide range of issues relating to the work of customs bodies, including implementation of the budget, customs services, law-enforcing activities, customs infrastructure development.

Alexander Shpilevsky reported that the customs payments channelled to the central budget in 2007 had grown twofold from last year and total Br 4,38 trillion.

Belarus has adopted a new Customs Code, in force since July 1, 2007. According to the SCC head, the customs bodies made every effort to prevent difficulties for citizens and foreign economic policy actors in starting to apply the new Code.

The meeting also focused on the issues related to the Republican Unitary Customs Company Beltamozhservis. The Head of State gave specific directions for improving the quality of work of this enterprise. According to Alexander Shpilevsky, this company’s yearly turnover has approached Br60 billion.

The President was also informed on the ongoing reorganization of customs bodies. The Head of State approved the decision on granting full rights to customs bodies for carrying out operational search activities.